topic Re: Question about custom plotter in AutoCAD Forum

Question about custom plotter

sunchuanpu — Fri, 27 Aug 2021 08:27:48 GMT

Hello, I edited a .pc3 file for printable area, trying to make it plot A3 papers with no border space.

The following image is my testing sample

The outer boundary is only for me to look at when I do the drawing, I want it to fit into the papers' border when I plot it. When I preview the plot result, it shows everything as I expected:

However, when I actually confirm plotting, the result is shown like this. The top and right side are cutted off, just like what would happen as the printable area never edited:

I don't know what did I do wrong, and why the result is different than preview.

Thank you very much for your help.

Re: Question about custom plotter

Valentin_CAD — Fri, 27 Aug 2021 09:43:02 GMT

@sunchuanpu ,

Make your paper size "Full-bleed" and make sure to Window the Plot Area and Apply to Layout.

Provide an image of your plot setting.

Re: Question about custom plotter

sunchuanpu — Fri, 27 Aug 2021 09:54:01 GMT

Thank you for your reply! Above is my plot setting. My program is in Chinese, I hope this doesn't affect your understanding.

I copied a pc3 file called "DWG To PDF.pc3" and renamed it "DwgToPdf.pc3", and edit the printable area of paper size of "ISO A3 (420.00 x 297.00 MM)" like this. There is no paper size called "Full Bleed" in the pc3 file I copied.

And I did Window the Plot Area and Apply to Layout, I believe those parts are done correctly, since the preview looks just like what I expect.

Re: Question about custom plotter

Valentin_CAD — Fri, 27 Aug 2021 10:21:30 GMT

@sunchuanpu ,

Go back to the original DWG to PDF.pc3 and look for the ISO full bleed - no need to change anything else.

You should see it if you scroll to the top of your Paper Size.

Try:

or at least

Please post the drawing for all to review.

Note there is also a Chinese Autodesk Community: https://forums.autodesk.com/t5/zhong-wen/ct-p/531

Re: Question about custom plotter

Anonymous — Fri, 27 Aug 2021 14:26:46 GMT

Stupid question time: are you certain that the outside rectangle is, in fact, the same dimensions and not metric-units version of ANSI B? We used to do some similar trickery in the other direction - ISO A3 drawings printed to fit on ANSI B/11x17 paper leaves a rather nice area on the left for binding.

Something else to look into is margins. Normally the full-bleed paper sizes have minimal margins (the 'standard' size has more significant ones) but due to messing around it's possible they were modified to something larger. The 'standard' paper size has larger margins which will not accept printing, they're just used for centering the printed portion. Trim marks are only useful for printing on large roll plotters, where the operators have to manually trim the paper.

Finally, you might consider leaving the outer border/trim marks off entirely. Normal procedure would be to not print trim marks on smaller paper sizes like A3 or 11x17, just center it.

Re: Question about custom plotter

pendean — Fri, 27 Aug 2021 15:37:43 GMT

DWG to PDF is not capable of full bleed (no margins) but you can get very close with ISO FULL BLEED A3 (not just A3).

FWIW the way the graphics professionals do full-bleed/no margins with no printer-capable of it is they print to a larger sheet then trim it.

Re: Question about custom plotter

sunchuanpu — Mon, 30 Aug 2021 01:35:11 GMT

Sorry for late reply, the problem is on the computer of my company, so I have to wait until Monday to check it.

The DWG to PDF.pc3 does not have full bleed option, might because I am using AutoCAD 2008?

ISO Expand A3 doesn't work, as shown below. The difference is this one is centered, and the custom size is not (even if I check the center checkbox). I am wondering if centering is the cause of problem?

The drawing I am testing is the first image in my original post. And thanks for the link to Chiense community, I will try it next time.

Re: Question about custom plotter

sunchuanpu — Mon, 30 Aug 2021 01:50:05 GMT

I am not sure if I understand your first sentence.

Print to larger sheet is a good solution to this. Thanks for the advice, I will definitely take this as alternative if other approaches fail.